


Vague sketch of a fantasy

by blackmustache



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-11
Updated: 2013-11-11
Packaged: 2018-01-01 04:49:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1040525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackmustache/pseuds/blackmustache
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam meets Louis in the pub and realises he's got a problem with the connection between his brain and his mouth. Throwing three parties for somebody you only met once probably classes as stalker behaviour... right? (AU based on the Purple Giraffe episode of How I Met Your Mother).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vague sketch of a fantasy

One of the things Liam likes best about the pub at the end of their street is how cosy it always feels. It's packed full of sofas and armchairs instead of all the cold furniture with hard edges you find in the wine bars in town.

There's a particular sofa that they always gravitate towards when they arrive, beside the window with a good view of the door too. Liam's nosy, and when he's there alone with Zayn and Perrie like tonight, he likes to people watch instead of being forced to watch them make out if they get into one of _those_ moods.

There's a packet of crisps split down the side and lying open on the middle of the table, and a stack of empty glasses from their last two rounds balanced carefully on the next table over. Perrie is sitting opposite Liam, curled up against Zayn's side. Her shirt is bunched up at the shoulder while Zayn draws something intricate on her arm with a black biro, and she's using her free hand to build a tower out of playing cards.

Liam's watching her as she reaches the third level, fascinated by how she can keep everything steady with just one hand when he's pretty sure he couldn't even get three cards to stand together. He's got a newspaper on his knee but he hasn't turned the page for at least half an hour, and the Europa League match that had been playing on the telly in the corner is over too.

He lets his eyes wander from Perrie's demonstration of architectural prowess and looks around the pub. Most of the people in there live on his street too – he's not sure when exactly he'd noticed that he's basically moved to bloody Coronation Street, but the truth is that he likes it.

It's when his eyes settle on a table in the corner beside the dart board that he realises he doesn't know everybody there tonight after all. There are three guys sitting there that Liam’s never seen before and at least two of them look like they’d rather be absolutely anywhere else. The third seems like he’s trying to lift their spirits but when he only gets shrugs or grunts in return he just slumps back into his chair. 

“Oi,” says Perrie, and Liam blinks as she throws a crisp at his head. He drags his eyes away from the table in the corner and looks at her. “I said it's your round.”

Liam is about to protest. He's pretty sure he bought the first round which means it's most certainly not his turn again yet. Before he can say anything, though, he spots movement out of the corner of his eye and the one with his back to Liam is standing up and heading for the bar. It’s then that Liam gets a good look at him, and suddenly Liam is on his feet too.

The guy reaches the bar just before Liam. Liam hangs back a bit waiting for the barman to come back, and there’s a shout from one of the two lads left sitting at the table. “Oi, Louis.” Liam deliberately doesn’t look in that direction, but he remembers that information for later. Louis. “Bring tequila!”

Louis laughs and shakes his head. “Tequila doesn’t agree with you. I’m not being responsible for that,” he shouts back, drumming his fingers on the bar while he waits to order. Eventually the barman reappears from the back mumbling an apology about changing a beer barrel and Liam stands aside until Louis has been served his three pints. 

The barman turns to Liam and Liam is just opening his mouth to order when a giant bear leaps onto his back. It's the only explanation.

“Liam!” Harry exclaims happily, clinging onto Liam's back long enough that Liam loses his balance and bangs into Louis, who in turn knocks over one of the glasses he'd just been reaching for.

“Shit,” Liam mumbles, and Harry sighs disappointedly into his ear as if _Liam_ is the one who did something wrong.

“Liam,” Harry repeats. “Look what you've done. You've knocked this poor man's beer over.”

“Yes, Harry.” Liam's caught between wanting to throttle Harry and not wanting this very cute guy to be a witness to it. “I'm aware.”

“You'll have to buy him another one now.”

“Thank you for your input, you fuckwit,” Liam forces out, smiling at Louis while giving Harry his best _you're dead_ eyes. As the barman returns with his drinks, he realises he didn't actually order them yet and that's another benefit of being a regular somewhere. “Take these to Zayn and Perrie and try to keep out of trouble.”

Harry nods happily and takes the drinks away, and Liam turns back to Louis. “Um – is that Fosters?”

Louis nods. “Thanks, Liam.”

Liam is taken aback for a second that Louis knows his name, and it must show on his face because Louis laughs and points over his shoulder at Harry. Oh. Right. Of course. 

They wait in silence for the replacement pint to come, and then they both speak at once. “I'm Louis,” says Louis. At the same time, Liam takes the plunge and points back over at their table, where Harry is already eating all of the crisps and staring creepily at the two of them.

“Would you like to join us?”

They laugh a little nervously, and Louis shakes his head and gestures back over at his own friends. “I can't. Um, the red haired one – Ed?” Louis points, and Liam nods. “He just got dumped, so we're kind of on a no-romance bender tonight and no offence, but I think your friends probably aren’t what he needs right now.”

Liam looks back over his shoulder at Zayn and Perrie and he gets it. They're sickeningly perfect for each other. Zayn is still drawing on Perrie's arm and Perrie's playing card tower has grown even taller but even when they're not actively _being a couple_ , there's just something about them that's inherently couple-y. 

“Fair enough.” Liam turns back to pay for his drinks, and he assumes Louis will take the opportunity to go back to his friends.

“I mean,” Louis continues as if there hasn't been any break in the conversation at all. “He'll get over it. He writes his best music when he's angsting anyway, but the point is I can already feel their death glares burning into the back of my head just for daring to stand here and flirt with you, so. You know. Probably best if I don't antagonise them any further.”

Liam tries not to react to the word _flirt_. It’s difficult, but he’s quite proud of himself. “He writes songs?”

Louis nods. “Yep. Really good ones, too. We met in our first year of Uni, we were all doing media courses so they lumped us together in one flat. Ed was doing Media Studies, Nick there-” Louis points at the other guy. “Was Radio Production and I went for Broadcast Journalism.” Louis shakes his head with a little shy smile and it's the cutest thing Liam's ever seen. “I'm sorry. You didn't ask.”

“Listen, I-” Liam starts, and he's actually not sure what he's going to say so he's quite glad really when the one Louis said was called Nick shouts over.

“Tomlinson!”

Louis grimaces and looks over at Nick, who waves an empty beer glass in the air. Right. Louis has the drinks. “Sorry.”

“No, that's okay, you should go back to them.”

Louis nods. “Nice meeting you, Liam,” he says with a smile, picking up the three pints of beer that are sitting on the bar. He's about to walk away when Liam reaches for Louis' wrist and Louis only just avoids slopping beer all down his front.

“I'm having a party! Next Friday!” Liam exclaims. Fuck, what? Where did that come from? “You should come.”

Louis puts the beers back down on the bar and pulls out his phone, scrolling through the screen and then wrinkling up his nose. Liam thinks he may have a new contender for _cutest thing he's ever seen_ , bumping that shy smile from earlier down into second place. “I have to work,” Louis sighs. “I'm a reporter for the local news but I'm so far down the food chain I just have to go where they tell me. Mostly it's angry local people being angry about local things, but next Friday I have to go overnight to cover some ridiculous world record attempt at the bloody crack of dawn on Saturday.”

“Oh,” Liam hears himself saying, and seriously, what is going on with his brain-to-mouth connection tonight. He swears it's missing out some vital steps that usually occur in between. “Did I say next Friday? I meant tomorrow.” He waves his hand dismissively. “It's just I've been telling people next Friday all week and, well,” he points at his beer as if that explains everything.

“Tomorrow?” Louis repeats, a smile spreading across his face. “I can make tomorrow.”

“Awesome.”

“Give me your phone,” Louis suddenly demands, and Liam hands it over without question. “Okay. ” Louis taps the screen a few times and then hands it back to Liam. “I put my number in there. Text me your address and I'll see you tomorrow.”

“Oh, it's actually just two doors that way,” Liam starts, pointing down the street but Louis leans in close to his ear and cuts him off.

“This is me giving you my number, okay?” Louis breathes, and Liam just nods dumbly.

The moment is interrupted by another impatient cough coming from the table in the corner and Liam grins. “You can slap me if you want?”

Louis splutters. “I can _what_?”

Liam shrugs. “It's anti-romance night, right? Tell them I hit on you and you slapped me.”

Suddenly Louis is grinning and Liam realises that he might have to start having categories of cutest thing ever if Louis is going to keep coming out with new contenders like this. Cutest smile, cutest frown... “I actually think they would both _love_ that,” Louis confirms.

“Okay,” Liam breathes, standing up a little straighter and steeling himself for impact. “Go for it. Make sure it really connects.” He grins. “And I'll see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow,” Louis laughs lightly, and seconds later he's bringing his palm down flat against the skin of Liam's cheek and it stings but it's kind of exhilarating and Liam is having a hard time looking as if Louis has just put him in his place. He forces his expression into something more downcast and picks up his own beer from the bar and traipses back to the table.

Harry is frowning and claps Liam on the back when he sits down. “Sorry, man. I really thought you had a chance there.”

Liam decides to keep up the pretence for a little longer. “Yeah. He seemed nice. He did Broadcast Journalism at Uni and he's a reporter for the local news.”

Perrie's gaping at him a little and she turns around to stare over at the table in the corner. Liam looks over there too and sees that Louis has chosen to sit on the other side of the table this time. It means he’s facing Liam now, although he seems to be doing his best to avoid looking over. Perrie turns back to him, still frowning.

“Liam Payne,” she starts. “How did you remember all of that? I've been dating your best friend for nearly four years and sometimes you still have trouble remembering my last name.”

Liam shrugs. “So? You're engaged now. Your last name is going to be Malik soon enough and then it won't matter any more.”

Zayn snorts at that and looks up from Perrie's biro tattoo to stir things up a bit. “Fair point.”

“I just think,” Perrie continues, ignoring Liam and pinching Zayn for encouraging him. “That you must quite like him. And Zayn knows I haven't decided if I'm taking his name yet, anyway.”

“I might have got his number,” Liam admits softly. “And it might have been a fake slap to please his friends.” He clears his throat. “And it's possible we might have to throw a party tomorrow because I told him we were having one and invited him to it.”

“Yes!” Harry exclaims, jumping into the air with a grin and bashing his knee off the underside of the table. He watches in horror as Perrie's card tower starts to slide apart, and he sinks back into his chair without her having to say a word. “I am so dead.”

–

Liam has been best friends with Zayn since the first weekend of Uni. They were assigned to the same flat and Zayn ended up sleeping on Liam's floor the first night, cocooned in Liam's spare blankets and pillows because it was easier than picking his way through all of the boxes he hadn't unpacked yet in his own room.

For second and third year they moved into a rented house with two other lads from their first-year flat. After graduation the other two decided to move back to their hometowns and knowing that they'd have to move out regardless, Liam and Zayn both ended up contemplating doing the same thing. It wasn't until their landlord popped over one night to show some prospective tenants around that everything had worked itself out.

Liam knew that Paul owned and managed loads of student housing and a few other bits of property, and when Paul discovered they hadn't found anywhere else to live he said he might have something for them. Now Liam and Zayn live in a nice two-bedroomed flat above a newsagents that's only two streets over from their old place. And in exchange for Zayn agreeing to work the morning shift and sort out the paperboys for minimum wage, Paul knocks fifty quid a week off the rent.

Perrie and Zayn got engaged in the summer after graduation, a week and a half after Liam and Zayn had moved into the new flat. Allegedly she still has her own place, but Liam's never been there and she contributes to the rent and the bills so it really feels like there are three people living in their flat and that’s an arrangement that suits all of them. 

The bonus of living over a shop that closes before six at night is that when they occasionally do want to throw a party, there's no downstairs neighbours to worry about. And this one is a really great party. There's plenty of food and drink, and there's a good turnout because Liam spent the day hanging out in the shop with Zayn and telling every student that came in that they should come over.

So yeah, it's a good party. It's just a shame Louis isn't at it.

For the first couple of hours Liam assumes he's just going to be fashionably late so that he can make an entrance. He said he's a television reporter, and if he's on telly he probably likes being the centre of attention. So Liam wanders around with a beer in his hand, chatting to people and trying to stop wondering when Louis might turn up.

It's almost eleven when Zayn flops down beside him on the sofa, the music still loud and the flat's still packed with people. Harry arrived an hour ago, and Harry's _always_ the last to show up to a party.

“No Louis?” Zayn frowns, handing Liam a fresh beer and popping the tab on the can he'd brought for himself.

Liam shakes his head and shrugs. “Not his fault I threw a party just to get him to come over, is it? He doesn't know that. Or maybe he does know that and that's why he's not here. Either way. Not his fault.”

Zayn rests his head on Liam's shoulder and his eyes settle on Perrie, sitting crossed-legged on the coffee table and laughing at something Jade is saying. Liam watches her too, and it's like there's something inside her, some kind of homing beacon where she just _knows_ when Zayn is looking at her, because within seconds she's looking up at him too, smiling and wiggling her fingers in a tiny wave and then turning her attention back to Jade.

Liam really wants to have that.

Zayn elbows him in the side. “Seen that?” He's nodding past Perrie now, off in the direction of the kitchen. Harry is standing in the doorway with a girl pressed up against the frame, not kissing but their faces so close it looks like he's trying to climb inside her.

“Who is she?”

Zayn shrugs. “I heard him ask who invited her. Said something about somebody called Niall?” He takes a swig of his beer, contemplating that while they watch Harry work his magic. They've seen it so many times before and it never ceases to amaze Liam how easy Harry finds it to just flirt and chat like that. “Do we even know a Niall?”

Liam wrinkles up his nose and thinks back over the steady stream of students who'd been in the shop during the day. “Creepy short fella with the thick dark hair who spent twenty minutes trying to figure out how to get a porno down off the top shelf without having to ask one of us to reach it for him?”

Zayn shakes his head. “Nah, he comes in all the time for fags – I can't remember his name but it's not Niall, I've seen his ID.”

“No idea, then.”

Zayn disappears a while after that, drunk enough to let himself be coaxed into dancing by Perrie. Liam watches Harry and Niall's Friend disappear out the door and decides it's time for another beer. For the rest of the night he tries to pretend this is just any other party. 

Eventually it kind of works.

–

Zayn is the furthest thing possible from being a morning person, and Liam is constantly amused by the fact that Zayn is the one who ended up with the job that involves getting up at four in the morning to deal with delivery drivers and teenage paperboys. The day after the party, Liam stumbles downstairs and into the shop around ten to buy some milk and finds Zayn looking surprisingly perky as he weighs himself a bag of Kola Kubes and chucks some change in the till.

“Morning,” Liam yawns. He walks straight past the fridge and heads for the counter instead, lifting the hatch to let himself through and reaching for the jar of Choc Lick from the shelf behind Zayn. “You look remarkably awake.”

“Haven't been to bed,” Zayn grins, and then points accusingly as Liam starts to tip some of the crumbly bits of chocolate out onto the scales. “You're paying for that this time, remember.”

“Yeah yeah,” Liam sighs, handing over the coins he'd brought to pay for the milk. He'll just have to get Zayn to bring some back with him later instead. He takes his bag of chocolate and lies on the floor behind the counter, his head pounding and desperately in need of caffeine but too tired to find some. Or move.

The bell above the door jingles and Liam hears the creak of the hinges, but he's well enough out of sight that he doesn't need to move. He's almost asleep when the customer speaks.

“Hi, uhm. I'm looking for Liam?”

Liam doesn't open his eyes. Sure, the voice _sounds_ like Louis, but that's ridiculous. He's really tired, so this is probably one of those weirdly realistic dreams you have when you're halfway between awake and asleep.

Zayn clears his throat and kicks Liam in the side. “Who's asking?”

“I'm – uhm. I tried the address he gave me but there was a girl with pink hair who said he might be here. My name is Louis?” This time Liam knows it's got to be a dream – nobody would be stupid enough to wake Perrie up. Although, Louis doesn't know Perrie so he doesn't know that's a bad idea. There's a long silence after that, and then he hears a soft, “Oh,” and when Zayn throws a Kola Kube at him Liam finally forces his eyes open. Zayn is staring down at him, smirking, and there's another pair of eyes peering over the counter.

Liam scrambles to his feet, blushing furiously. “Hi,” he starts. He tries to think of anything else to say but no words come out, and just as he's about to blurt out something about the weather Louis laughs.

“Looks like I missed a good party then, yeah?”

Liam just nods, and Zayn pats him on the shoulder and wanders through to shop’s back room to start tidying up. “Yeah, it was great. You know. Fun.” Liam tries to keep from wincing at how lame he sounds.

“I'm really sorry I missed it. I got called into work and I left my phone in make-up and I didn't have time to go back down and get it, and I kept thinking that maybe I'd get done and I'd still be able to make it and I'm sorry. I wanted to be there.”

Liam shrugs, trying desperately to appear casual. “It's fine, really. Something big happen at work?”

Louis smiles a bit. “Well, yes and no. The main presenter for the night time bulletin started throwing up and they called me just as I was leaving to come to yours, asked me to be on standby. I think I was the only person they could reach because I'm at _least_ fifth in the pecking order for that kind of thing, but I couldn't say no. It could have been my big break.”

“Oh,” Liam smiles back. That actually makes him feel a bit better, a bit less like Louis stood him up even though that's unfair because it wasn't like it was a date to begin with. “And was it?”

Louis shrugs. “She managed to hold off the vom until after the link to the last VT and then she legged it off to the bathroom even though there was a bucket under her desk that she could have puked in. They shoved me into her seat in time for me to introduce the weatherman and then that was it.” He laughs a bit. “I did get my ten seconds on the air though, and it's the first time I've done something live so it was kind of a rush. Usually all my bits are pre-recorded.”

Zayn emerges from the back room and snorts. “Liam's quite a fan of your bits,” he jokes. He darts to the side as Liam reaches out to try to pinch him and misses because Zayn is too quick and Liam is still too hungover.

“Is that so?” Louis beams, his eyes only on Liam and not Zayn. Liam knows he's blushing. “It sucks that your party isn't tonight. I could have made it tonight – I have a thing to do this afternoon, but even if Carol starts throwing up again later they've got actual newsreaders on standby this time.”

“It is!” Liam blurts, and Louis frowns. So does Zayn for that matter. Liam needs to know what it is that happens to his brain around Louis because it's going to get him into serious trouble if he doesn't figure it out soon. “I mean, it was last night, but it's tonight too. It was so much fun we're going for a two-dayer.”

Zayn throws a couple more Kola Kubes at Liam and Liam carefully avoids looking at Zayn. Sunday mornings in the shop are Zayn's least favourite because even though it's so quiet he still has to be there, so having a party in the flat the night before isn't really ideal.

“Then I'll see you tonight!” Louis beams and runs his eyes over the shelves. “Can I have a pound of fizzy cola bottles please, while I'm here? The pink and blue ones. Or, wait. Are they even cola?”

“I think they’re supposed to be bubblegum,” Liam laughs.

“Right. Well, a pound of those please. I haven’t had any for ages.”

Zayn reaches the jar down from the shelf but just hands it to Liam, picking up his coat from the floor beside his stool. “Liam will serve you. I'm going to bed – I need some sleep before the _party tonight_ , apparently.” Liam feels Zayn's glare on the back of his neck when he walks past to get out from behind the counter.

“We need milk!” Liam shouts, and Zayn opens the fridge and takes a carton without looking back as he heads out of the shop. He turns his attention back to Louis. “A pound in money or a pound in weight?”

Louis crinkles up his nose. “People still weigh things in _pounds_?”

Liam laughs and starts to pour the sweets out onto the scales and then tips them into a paper bag, gripping the corners and swinging it round a couple of times until it's closed. “That's a pound please, Louis,” and Louis laughs, handing over the coin and taking his bag.

“See you later, then,” Louis says, and smiles at Liam as he shoves the paper bag into his pocket.

“Yeah,” Liam smiles. “I'll see you tonight.”

–

Louis is a no show again. Liam's a bit surprised this time, if he's honest, because he thought things had gone well in the shop this morning. Zayn had forgiven Liam by the time Liam got back from the shop, and Liam had joined Zayn and Perrie on the sofa to doze and pretend not to watch the Sound of Music on TV before he started tidying for the party.

Less people show up this time, which Liam knows is mostly because he told less people about it. Tonight it's Harry that flops down beside him on the sofa, while Perrie and Zayn are the ones drifting into public indecency territory in the corner by the stereo.

“How's it going?” Harry murmurs, sounding relaxed. He's got a beer in his hand but Liam thinks it's the same one he picked up when he came in, it's mostly full and Harry doesn't seem drunk. “I don't see your new friend around.”

“No,” Liam sighs a little. “He's not here.”

“That's a shame,” Harry replies. Liam waits, because it's always worth waiting a little extra when you're talking to Harry in case he comes out with something important. But instead, a girl drops down into Harry's lap and Liam startles, shifting to the side and out of the way a bit. Liam recognises her as the girl Harry left with last night. 

Harry has carefully wrapped his arms around the girl, who has started kissing his neck, and he's leaning past her towards Liam. “Did you invite her back?” he mouths, and Liam shakes his head slightly. He didn’t invite her yesterday either, and he still doesn’t know who she is, never mind be able to track her down and invite her again. That sounds like it would have been way too much effort even if he’d actually tried to do it.

“Who invited you?” Liam interjects loudly. He's had enough beer that he doesn't care if he's rude. He doesn't know who this girl is and the whole point of both parties was for him to get to know Louis and it hasn't happened and it's not _fair_.

“I work with Niall,” she breathes into Harry's neck, and carries on kissing him. Liam sighs loudly and stands up, wandering off in the direction of his bedroom.

“Fuck this,” he says loudly to nobody in particular. “I'm going to bed.”

–

Zayn's forehead is resting on the counter when Liam opens the door the next morning. _This_ is the scene he'd been expecting to see when he got to the shop yesterday – Zayn trying to sneak naps at work and generally being grumpy.

“Went to bed this time then?”

Zayn grunts and Liam laughs, letting himself back behind the counter again. He reaches across Zayn and slips the money into the till for yesterday's milk. “Don't worry. You can get your beauty sleep tonight.”

Propping his elbow on the counter and leaning his face on the palm of his hand, Zayn looks up at Liam. “No show again then?” he asks softly, and Liam just sighs and leans back against the wall and doesn't say anything. He hates it when people feel sorry for him.

“I just-” he starts, but he stops when his phone starts to ring in his pocket. He fishes it out and checks who's calling. “It's Louis.”

A smile spreads across Zayn's face. “Answer it then,” he says, and then turns to serve a customer who’s approaching the counter with a newspaper in his hand.

Liam ducks into the back room and half expects Louis to hang up before he answers, but it keeps ringing and apparently Louis is persistent. He closes his eyes and slides his thumb across the screen. “Hi, Louis.”

“Liam!” Louis screeches down the phone, loud enough that Liam has to pull the speaker away from his ear and turn down the volume. “I'm so sorry I missed your party. Again. Was it good?”

“Yeah, it was epic,” Liam lies. “Really great.”

“I really wanted to be there.”

“You don't have to apologise.” Liam sees the customer leave and Zayn pokes his head around the door, waggling his hand between thumbs up and thumbs down with a questioning look on his face. Liam shrugs, and Zayn looks disappointed as he turns back to the counter.

“No, but like,” Louis sighs in frustration. “I wanted to. So I was at work yesterday, right, and I had to go film this report with this local beekeeper who's pissed off because his bees ate fondant or something and now his honey is all minty.”

Liam blinks. “What?”

“Seriously, that's a thing that can happen. And he was really angry about it. But anyway, one of the bastards stung me and it turns out I'm allergic. They sent me to hospital because I started hyperventilating and my arm swelled up.”

“Wow. Are you okay?” This is not how Liam expected this conversation to go. 

“Yeah, it turned out the hyperventilating only happened because I was freaked out, and I don't have full on anaphylaxis so they just sent me home with some antihistamines, but it meant I kind of crashed out asleep as soon as I got in.”

“Of course you did, that's totally understandable. So how are you feeling now?”

Louis laughs lightly. “Yeah, I'm good. My arm still has a nasty lump on it and they signed me off ill until I can get an appointment with an allergy specialist but I’m actually fine.” He pauses. “I don't suppose there's any chance your two-dayer turned into a three-dayer? I’m apparently at a loose end.”

Liam looks up at Zayn, who is sitting on the stool with his back to the counter so that he can watch Liam. He looks tired. He's going to murder Liam for this. “It did! The party continues tonight.”

Louis has barely let out a happy squeal down the phone before Zayn is standing in the doorway, clutching a jar and pelting Liam with lemon bonbons.

–

This time, Liam is sure Louis is going to show up. It's Sunday night now so everything is very mellow, the playlist is mostly Athlete and Elbow and Two Door Cinema Club and Liam's sitting on the sofa playing with his phone when Zayn stomps past him and into the kitchen without speaking. Liam's aware he might have pushed things a little too far this time, because Zayn might like Sunday mornings the least but Mondays are the most stressful. Zayn's got to make sure all the Sunday papers are bundled up for returns, take three times as many deliveries as he does any other day of the week, and work and re-work the delivery rota as each of the paperboys comes in with a different reason why he can't possibly do the shifts Zayn's assigned him to.

Harry's here, sitting on a pile of cushions in the corner with a blond boy mostly on top of him, and at least that's two people who're enjoying party number three. The girl Harry had gone home with the last two nights is here too, and fuck, seriously, who keeps inviting her? But this time she's sitting by the window, talking to another girl Liam's never seen before and occasionally glaring over at Harry and the boy. Harry seems oblivious, and Liam's not entirely sure why she hasn’t gone home already.

The sound of breaking pottery in the kitchen pulls Liam out of this thoughts and he's about to stand up and investigate when Zayn reappears in the doorway. He’s holding a mug that his sister had painted for him when he left for Uni in one hand, and its' handle in the other. He looks furious. Liam's a little bit scared, because Zayn doesn't get angry easily, but when he does it's all consuming for a few minutes until he calms down and comes back to apologise. Liam's lucky that he's never had it directed at him before, but he thinks he's about to see proof that there's a first time for everything.

“Liam,” he starts. “This is ridiculous, mate. You know I'm all for a party and the first one was ace, the second one was good too but this one is shit. Somebody even tried to wash the dishes for us, that's how boring it is, and they piled everything up so high that all I did was open the kitchen window for a fucking smoke and everything slid to the floor and half of it's chipped or smashed.”

Liam feels guilty. He stands up, trying to think about how he can make things better. Zayn loved that mug. “I've got some Superglue somewhere Zayn, shit, we can fix that.”

Zayn laughs a little but he doesn't seem like he’s really amused. “It's not about the fucking mug, Liam. I need some sleep. Three parties? Really? How long is this going to go on for, when he doesn't turn up tonight are you going to have a fourth? And a fifth? Where is he this time, Liam? Where's Louis?”

Perrie gently clears her throat from behind him, and Liam hadn't even seen her go out but he knows what he's going to see before he turns around. Louis is standing beside her, looking amazing and Liam is too embarrassed to breathe. There's a jacket slung over Perrie's arm that Liam assumes must belong to Louis, and the silence in the flat is making Liam's ears hurt. It can't last more than a few seconds before Perrie thrusts the coat at Liam and heads off towards Zayn, who's still standing in the doorway clutching his sister's mug.

“We'll just, erm,” she starts, grabbing Zayn by the wrist and tugging him off in the direction of their bedroom, and it's like it gives everybody in the room permission to move again. A few people stand up to sneak out behind Louis, and Harry leads the blond boy by the hand a few minutes later. Harry deliberately walks between Louis and Liam and pats Liam on the cheek with a grin, whispering something about going for it.

“Niall!” Louis exclaims, and reaches over to hug Harry's new friend. “Told you this would be a wicked party, didn't I? Have you been to all three?”

Niall – apparently – grins at him, and Liam's jaw drops. “ _You_ invited the famous Niall?”

Louis nods. “I – yeah. Is that not okay? Did he not tell you?”

Liam starts to laugh and flops back down onto the sofa. “It's fine,” he mumbles, closing his eyes and feeling a little hysterical, and the next thing he hears is the slamming of the front door downstairs as the last few stragglers escape before things can get any more awkward.

He's assuming that Louis has joined them because it's so quiet in the flat, but then the couch dips beside him. “You threw three parties for me?”

“I,” Liam starts, rubbing at his face. “Yes? I suppose technically that's what happened. It sounds much creepier when you actually say it, though.”

Louis laughs and Liam's heart sinks a little bit. Of course Louis is laughing at him – he'd probably laugh too if this happened to him, assuming he hadn't legged it already. But then he feels Louis' hand on his thigh and he looks over and Louis has his face pretty close to Liam's. Oh.

Louis leans closer to Liam's ear. “Just ask me out on an actual date, will you?”

Liam smiles, his heart pounding. “Yeah?”

Louis pokes him in the leg with his index finger. “Yes. Hurry up or I might change my mind.”

“Okay,” Liam starts, licking his lips. “Would you like to go for dinner with me tomorrow?”

Louis nods slowly, his voice gentle. “Yeah.”

“I know an amazing little bistro,” Liam continues eagerly. “It’s kind of quirky but it's really nice.”

“The one with the Smurf penis on the wall?”

Liam snorts and then starts to laugh, because yeah, that's the one, and yeah, that's exactly what he thought the first time he saw the blue french horn they have hanging up in there.

He's starting to think that things might finally be looking up for him.


End file.
